The Toffees have brought in Tom Cleverley and Gerard Deulofeu this summer, but having allowed Sylvain Distin and Antolin Alcaraz to leave the club on free transfers, Martinez may need another centre back.

"That's the nature of this period, you are going to be linked with players," said Martinez. "I don't enjoy talking about other players when they are not at our club and I will never be disrespectful in that manner."

"Our squad is not complete. We are still looking for two positions and we need to make sure they fit exactly in the group in the manner we want and expect as footballers and people. Central defence is one of those positions. Two experienced centre-halves left the squad, so we need to fill those gaps," he added.

Van Dijk has already shown many of the abilities that have made Stones so successful in the Premier League; at great reading of the game for his age and the ability to bring the ball out from the back are big facets of Van Dijk's game.

Alongside the more experienced Jagielka, Van Dijk would be able to develop gradually in the Premier League - and his displays in Scotland suggest that he could certainly make the step up to life in England.

Olly Dawes

Olly is a Sports Management graduate and aspiring journalist, with most of his work surrounding football or NFL. He has formed two of his own sites, as well as contributing to a number of others before starting with Here Is The City.